Millions of people living in developing countries have no access to modern energy. This means not being able to switch on a kettle, turn on a lamp, or power a fridge. Without modern energy access, poor people must rely on traditional methods of lighting, heating and cooking - methods that are often unreliable and dangerous.

The Poor people's energy outlook 2012 (PPEO 2012) report outlines, however, that there is not a total separation between people with access to ‘modern’ energy and those without it. Many people use an energy mix combining small amounts of electricity supplied by off-grid solar power for lighting, for example, alongside cooking on a charcoal stove. Or a family may be able to charge a mobile phone with internet access, but lack sufficient energy to power a fridge to keep food fresh for longer.

Measuring Energy Access
A household might have greater energy access needs in one area of their supply than another, and the PPEO 2012 has proposed a set of minimum standards in the areas of lighting; cooking and water heating; space heating; cooling; and ICTs, that need to be met in order to say that a person has Total Energy Access. We have also created an Energy Supply Index for households. This tries to measure how clean and convenient energy supplies are, and whether they have negative effects on the health of people using them. You can look at how these measurements were tried out in communities in Kenya, Peru and Nepal in Chapter 3 of the PPEO 2012.

The PPEO 2012 focuses on how energy can help poor people work their way out of poverty. It also recognises that there is not an automatic leap to a better standard of living just because a person has access to energy. Explore our interactive graphic on how energy can help poor people work their way out of poverty, and the other factors involved here.

Total Energy Wiki

Creating greater energy access for poor people can only happen if policy makers and practitioners know where there are gaps in energy supply and identify what changes need to happen. To do this, more and better data is needed on communities’ energy use and supply around the world.

The Total Energy Wiki is being piloted on the Energypedia platform to allow anyone with access to the internet, anywhere in the world, to upload and share with the global community the energy access data they have collected using the Total Energy Access and Energy Supply Index questionnaire developed in the PPEO.

If enough people participate, this could start to crowd-source part of the answer to the energy access data gap – www.energypedia.info/totalenergywiki.

Energy Solutions
Practical Action implements sustainable solutions to poor people’s energy needs, take a look at our different technologies and case studies: